Working with Brands to Build a Brand

Brand partnerships can be a solid step towards audience expansion and traction increase.

Working with brands can open a music catalog to new spheres of listeners, while adding a few new contours to a consisting artist persona.

Apply these contours delicately. Though, with a vigilant eye on numerous, important factors. In this article we want to introduce some things to keep in mind when working with brands, especially concerning divergent strategies and approaches.

Double checking the agenda

Full disclosure in terms of what the agenda should be is vital. This is a communicative process – being honest about the goals of a partnership, definitely also defining a certain kind of roadmap.

The clearer you are about your agenda, and what you are hoping from a collaborative work, the better. You can also demand this from your brand representatives: Marketing schemes might be sugarcoated, or downplayed, in an effort to dock onto an artistic vision. This can lead to misunderstandings further down the line when unforeseen demands or interpretations of contractual demands are presented.

You are dealing with a company here, be ready to engage in company-think.

Artistic scheme first

Be stoic about your artistic scheme. If marketing measures diverge from your comfort zone, don’t try to compromise with yourself. The artistic vision should always be the lead-angle, and everything else should follow.

Make sure you communicate this early in the process. Pretending to be conciliatory while raging inside is not a mode to kick off a shared agenda with.

Like everything else, honesty – to yourself and others – should be the cornerstone of this endeavor.

Contractual clarity

Having everything laid out contractually is absolutely vital. Go into detail here: Demands from both sides should be clearly stated, and also the limits to what is expected.

Sometimes there are politics involved, like exclusivity. Be clear about the quality of your working relationship, and make sure you have it signed and delivered.

Tryout phase

Articulate and be aware of a tryout phase. There will be trying out – in terms communication, workflow and general project management. For you, this brand partnership might be the only one. For the company, it might be merely one next to several others,. Keep the daily business in mind, and the fact, that you’re only a singular part of whats going on in the grand scheme of this firm.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just reality. The faster you come to terms with it, the less personal you will perceive various issues, some more rocky and others, of this shared journey.
It’s business as usual, basically.
Maintaining social media sovereignty

Keep a strong grip on the tonality and style of your social media content.

Be clear about the way you communicate to your fans, and call upon the trust of the marketing team that you will actually get the message across. But in your own way, in a language that is authentic and credible.

Adept marketing professionals will understand that content placement and branded content via artists is a delicate matter. To reach beyond the output of a two-dimensional billboard, they have to accept certain rules and mannerisms and play along the lines of what you find appropriate.

Again – only engage in what you find comfortable, and be straight-up about it.